Cate shot him a look but didn’t say anything. They had barely been driving half an hour.
Unlike Key West, here in the mountains, the air was crisp and cool. He handed her a water bottle and watched as she drained half of it. “I brought some food,” he said. “Granny thought you might be hungry before we got home.”
His companion brightened visibly. “Anything to sit on?”
“A blanket. You want a picnic table or the hood of the car?”
“That picnic table is in the shade.” She pointed. “But let’s sit on top.”
“Of course.” Concrete benches weren’t designed for pregnant women.
While Cate stood and stretched, he retrieved the basket of food and the blanket. He spread the blanket over the table and set out the containers. When he offered Cate his hand to step up onto the bench, she pretended she didn’t see and hopped up on her own.
Granny and the cook between them had provided fresh roasted chicken, a fruit salad and homemade croissants. There was even an insulated carafe of iced tea. Brody would have preferred a beer, but the tea would do.
They ate in silence. Cate sat as far away from him as possible given the confines of the tabletop. She stared out into the distance where ridge after ridge of mountains stretched for miles.
Brody wiped his fingers and leaned back on his hands. “Are you in love with me, Cate?”
Her body jerked, but her answer was flat. “No.”
He absorbed the hit, though it left him breathless. “Do you want to annul our marriage?”
The silence lasted for hours, it seemed. At last, she half turned to face him. “I’m not sure. I thought you wanted the baby to have your name. Legalities and all that.”
“I did. I do. But I’ve hurt you too much. Like most everyone else in your life. So from now on, I only want what you want.”
Her smile was wry. “So docile. So tame. You can’t fool me, Brody Stewart. You would never let a woman call the shots.”
“I’m sorry for everything, Cate. I know you don’t believe me, but I love you.”
For one brief instant he caught a glimpse of the pain in her beautiful green eyes. Knowing he was responsible for that distress turned the knife in his gut. His lovely Cate was hurting. Badly. And he was to blame.
She wrinkled her nose and swatted at a fly that had shown up uninvited to their picnic. “Here’s the thing, Brody. I think you’re right. You do belong in Scotland. So it makes my life very difficult. I don’t want to keep a father from his son.”
“Then come back with me,” he said, not even realizing the words were about to tumble from his lips. “Live there with me. Or in a separate house. The Scots love bookstores. We could make a good life.”
Her lips trembled. “We’ve made such a mess of things, Brody. I don’t know what to think anymore.”
“We have to make decisions,” he said. “You know I’m right.”
Jamming her hands in the pockets of her lightweight jacket, she stared at him. “I see the guilt on your face. But none of this is your fault, at least no more than mine. You’re wearing a hair shirt and trying to do penance, for what? I don’t blame you for leaving Key West. I truly don’t. Maybe at first, but not now.”
“I never should have abandoned our honeymoon,” he said.
“It wasn’t real, was it? We both knew that.”
“Cate, I—”
She held up a hand. “I need time.” The words were dull. “Time to think this through. Maybe an annulment is the answer. Please take me home so I can see Isobel and let her know I’m okay. I don’t want to keep her waiting anymore.”
Brody tasted panic, but he was going to fight. “I’ll give you what you ask,” he said quietly, “but I won’t stop loving you.”
* * *
For an entire week Brody bided his time. Isobel, for once, had chosen to stay out of the middle of the mess Brody and Cate had created. She hovered over her young friend, clearly worried, but not offering advice. As for Cate, she read books, chatted with Brody’s grandmother, spent time online creating a baby registry at Sharma’s request and generally avoided speaking to Brody.
The three of them had meals together, but that was as far as it went. Brody slept in his original bedroom, Cate in hers.
Their marriage had lasted all of twenty-four hours.
At the end of the seventh day, Brody decided they couldn’t wait any longer for a showdown. He had promised Cate time, but despite his best intentions, he was desperate. He had to win her over now, for both their sakes. Cate had to understand how he felt. It was critical for their happiness and for their future.
Decisions had to be made. Duncan was keeping him updated daily about the situation in Scotland, but Brody was far more worried about his bride, who seemed to be losing weight when she should be gaining.
Her face was thinner, her eyes underscored with shadows. Cate had been excited about her pregnancy. Now she drifted through the house like a listless ghost.
Tomorrow morning he would take her for a walk or a drive so they could have privacy, and he would lay his cards on the table.
He prowled the darkened hallways restlessly. Maybe he should have insisted on sleeping in the same bed. Now the gulf between them was so deep and so wide, he might never find a way across.
He had played the gentleman, trying to give Cate space and time to heal emotionally and physically. But was that the right thing to do? He knew the incident had terrified her, because it had scared the hell out of him, too.
He had waited this long. Surely twelve more hours wouldn’t kill him. Even so, he found himself standing outside her room like a lovesick swain.
Resting his forehead against her door, he tried not to think about the nights she had welcomed him eagerly into her bed. He ached to hold her, to bury his face in her hair and inhale the scent that was uniquely Cate’s. She was strong and funny and smart and sexy.
How could he not have known he was in love with her? All those months in Scotland over the winter, he had been restless and grouchy. He’d written it off to the terrible weather and work stress.
The answer was so much simpler.
With a deep sigh, he straightened and prepared to walk away. And then he heard it. A small, muffled sound, but unmistakable. Cate was crying.
His gut twisted. His heart fell to his knees. Somehow, he had to fix this. Without waiting for an invitation, he opened the door. The room was familiar to him. Even in the dark, he found her. She was huddled beneath the covers.
“Cate,” he said, sitting down on the edge of the mattress. He tugged back the covers. She’d had them pulled over her head. “It’s me. Talk to me, Catie girl. I can’t stand to hear you cry.” She was wearing a soft T-shirt, tiny bikini panties and nothing else.
“What are you doing here, Brody? It’s late.”
Her voice was husky and raw. There was no welcome in her words. But she didn’t throw him out immediately. He took heart from that.
“May I turn on the little lamp?” He needed to see her eyes, to gauge her reactions when he talked to her.
After a long silence, she sighed. “I suppose so.”
The light from the low-wattage bulb was sufficient for him to tell that she had probably been crying for some time. Her hair was tousled, and her face was damp. He rubbed her cheek with his thumb. “I never meant to ruin your life. From the day I met you last October, your smile has haunted my dreams. I went home to Scotland for the winter, but somewhere deep inside, I regretted that decision every day. All I can tell you is that I didn’t know what love was. How precious. How rare. You are everything I want, Catie girl.”
“What about the boating business?”
There was no accusation in her question, but he flinched. “I can sell it if that’s what we decide is best. Move here. Help with Granny.”
“I saw how you reacted
in Key West, Brody. You were beside yourself.”
“Turns out, it wasn’t the boating accident that freaked me out.”
She frowned. “Of course it was. I saw you.”
He shook his head slowly. “I was crazed and irrational, yes. But it was our wedding night that did it. I thought I had my whole life planned out so neatly, but after that night with you I was ready to chuck everything I had worked for. It terrified me. I’ve never felt for anyone the way I feel about you, Catie love. I’m sorry I handled things so badly.”
“You couldn’t get away from me fast enough.”
He swallowed hard. “Aye. That’s true. But when I arrived in Scotland, I came to my senses. It wasn’t my finest moment. I ran away, lass, plain and simple. It shames me to my core. The only thing I can say in my defense is that our wedding night shook the foundations beneath my feet. It was incredible. I couldn’t breathe for wanting you.”
“And you thought that was a bad thing...” Her bottom lip trembled.
“Ah, hell, don’t look at me like that. I’ve always prided myself on being in control of the world. When it comes to you, Cate Everett, I don’t even know who I am. But I want to figure it out, and I want to do that with you at my side. You told me you don’t love me. If that’s true, I guess I deserve it. But if you were lying, I’d give everything I own for another chance to make you happy.”
“My name is Cate Stewart,” she said. She didn’t smile when she said it, but she leaned into him and rested her forehead against his chest. “I’ve been so scared and tired and unsure of myself, Brody. I didn’t know what love was, either. I’m worried I’ll be a parent like my parents. I worry that I didn’t know my professor was a cheating, lying scumbag. Then there’s you. How do I know what I feel for you is real?”
His heart stopped. Nothing in the room moved. Not a whisper. Not a breath. He kissed her temple. “What do you feel for me, Catie girl?”
She pulled back and looked up at him with a wavering, lopsided smile. “I love you, Brody. Madly. Passionately. Like in the movies, only better. You protect me, but you don’t smother me. You believe in me. You let me know without making a big deal about it that you think I’ll be a good mother.” She paused. “And at the risk of sounding shallow, you’re a beautiful, sexy man, and I love the way you whisper to me in Gaelic when we make love.”
His mouth dried and his throat closed up. He had to try twice before he could speak. “Thank God.” His hands trembled as he smoothed her hair. “Mo chridhe. My heart. I swear I’ll never leave you again. I can’t. I couldn’t.”
“Then I’ve made up my mind.”
Alarm skittered through his veins. “About what?”
“It doesn’t make sense to move now. I’m too pregnant, and I want to stay with my doctor. But as soon as the baby is old enough to travel, I’m going back to Scotland with you. I want to see the water you love so well and the wild Highlands and the heritage that runs in my son’s veins. We’ll figure out some way to take care of Isobel. I want to go home with you, Brody. Your home will be my home.”
He shuddered at the prospect of what he had almost lost. “Ach, my dear, wonderful Cate. Ye’re so much more than I deserve.”
She linked her arms around his neck and kissed him softly. “Neither of us planned on love, Brody. Somewhere, somehow, we found each other. Maybe the timing was off, and maybe we shouldn’t be having a baby so soon. It doesn’t matter. As long as I have you, I can handle anything.”
“I love you, Catie girl.”
“And I adore you, you big, opinionated, gorgeous Scotsman.”
He smirked. “It was the accent, wasn’t it? Gets ’em every time.”
* * *
Cate was floating. Though her body was large with child, she felt as if she were light as a cloud or a feather. Happiness effervesced in her veins. “Make love to me, Brody,” she whispered. “I’ve missed you.”
He stiffened in her embrace. “We can’t, my love. It’s dangerous.”
“It’s been a week. I counted. I’m fine, Brody. Healthy as a horse. And we’ll be gentle and easy. Please.”
The man was torn. She could see that. But she wanted her husband, and she wasn’t prepared to wait a minute longer. Fortunately, he was barely dressed. She ran her hands over his hard, bare chest, feeling the ripple of muscle and the delineation of bone and tendon.
Brody exhaled on a ragged sigh. His large frame was rigid as if he was exercising mighty control. “You’ll tell me the moment anything hurts you?”
“Of course.” Sliding her hands around his waist, she eased inside his elastic-waist sleep pants and raked his taut buttocks with her fingernails. “It was a great wedding night. Now I want to see what you can do with ho-hum sex.”
He reared back and stared at her, his blue-eyed gaze sharp and mildly offended. “Ho-hum? I’m no’ familiar with that one, but I think I’ve been insulted.”
She nipped his earlobe with sharp teeth. “Sex can’t always be like it was in Key West. I’m sure we’ll lose our edge eventually.”
“Woman,” he growled, his tone terse with determination, “ye’d better shut yer mouth before I have to put you over my knee. I’ll never get tired of making you mine. So ye’d best get used to it.”
Before she could do more than gasp in shock, he ripped off her nightclothes and his own and thrust her down on her back spread-eagled on the bed. He gripped her wrists in two big hands, pinning them to the sheets. Then he stroked her pregnant belly with his erection.
She panted as her nipples pebbled and her skin tightened with gooseflesh. “I want you, Brody.” She was desperate. It had been a long, miserable week. “Don’t make me wait.”
His jaw was clenched, his smile tight with arousal. “Waiting is good for the soul, Little Mama.” He bent and suckled one breast. Her body arched and tightened in longing.
* * *
He smelled like warm, aroused male. The look in his eyes, even more than words, told her that he loved her. The brilliant blue was alight with happiness and something far deeper.
“I love you, Brody.” Her throat was thick with tears. She had almost lost everything. Her baby. Her lover.
He bent and kissed her softly, careful not to crush her. “No more tears, sweet bride. We’re together now. You, me and our son.”
With gentle hands, he rolled her to her side and entered her from behind, spooning her in an erotic position that left his hands free to play with her sensitive breasts. She moaned when he cupped them and squeezed them together.
“Oh, yes,” she whispered, already near the peak after long days of wanting him.
He nuzzled the back of her neck, his breath warm on her skin. “When I’m inside you,” he muttered, “I don’t want it to end.”
He was large and filled her irrevocably from this angle. Her role was more passive. She sensed that even now, he was trying to protect her. She moved restlessly, so close to shattering that her body strained for the peak. Grabbing his hand, she gripped it tightly. “Don’t stop,” she panted.
“Never,” he swore as he thrust harder, faster. And then, he touched her where their bodies joined and made her fly...
* * *
Brody felt definitely strange, but it was the best damned feeling of his life. The woman he adored was in his arms, and they were both trying to breathe. “I think it’s after three,” he groaned. “Maybe we should sleep.” At least one of them should show some sense. He was going to be a father. He needed to practice making mature decisions.
Cate wrapped her fingers around his penis. “I’ll bet we could try for another.”
“Cate,” he warned, halfheartedly slapping her hand away. “You need your rest.”
“What I need,” she said, flopping onto her back, “is calories. I’m starving.”
“Now that you mention it, so am I. I hope Granny has eggs in the fridge.”
“And toast with butter and jam?”
He rolled to his feet and helped her out of bed. “Anything the little mama wants.”
“Wow,” Cate said, laughing. “I guess there are perks to this pregnancy gig, after all.”
He slapped her on the butt and rescued her underwear and shirt. But then on second thought, he tossed them on the bed and caressed her rounded belly. “I have an idea.”
“I hope it involves feeding me.”
He perched on the edge of the bed and drew her closer. “Soon,” he swore. His sex surged and flexed. “I have an urge to sit you on my lap.”
“Sounds kinky.” She giggled.
“You can bet on it, Cate.”
As he joined their bodies, his lover sighed and rested her head on his shoulder. “This is the real thing, isn’t it?”
He gripped her bottom and pulled her in, taking her deeper. “Aye, Cate, it is. I love you, my dearest wife.”
“And I love you, Brody.”
“Until death do us part?”
“Longer than that.”
“That’s all I needed to hear.” And then he took them home.
Epilogue
Duncan Stewart strode into the hospital with his blood pumping and his stomach in a knot. The long-awaited moment was finally happening. Somewhere inside the walls of this vast medical facility, a tiny baby was being born, first in the next generation of Stewarts.
It was a great day, a glorious day. Brody and Cate, still newlyweds, were over the moon and wildly in love. Soon, they would be leaving North Carolina and going back to Scotland.
But not Granny. Stubborn, wonderful Granny Stewart was determined to stay in the home she had shared with her husband and to continue running the business they had built with their bare hands. No going back to Scotland for her.
Which meant that “someone” had to be sacrificed on the altar of familial responsibility.
Duncan felt the invisible noose tighten around his neck. He was single. He had nothing and no one to tie him down. It made perfect sense for him to be the one to stay with Granny Stewart and help her keep Stewart Properties afloat.
His Heir, Her Secret (Highland Heroes Book 1) Page 16